GitHub Use in Public Administration in Canada: Early Experience with a New Collaboration Tool

Abstract

GitHub is a digital project hosting service that facilitates open collaboration in software development. We introduce how GitHub works and assess how it is being used in the public sector in Canada through interviews with federal government leaders and a survey of Canadian public service GitHub users. With little research to date on public sector use of GitHub, and none on its use in Canadian governments, this paper explores the early experience with this new collaboration tool and considers the possible implications for open collaboration in government from modified digital uses of GitHub beyond software development.

Keywords: GitHub, policy analysis, collaboration, Canada

JEL Classification: D73